The figures of the Feminist Movement in Mrs. America. Beware of spoilers.
open/close all folders
Flo Kennedy
Flo Kennedy
Played By: Niecy Nash
A radical feminist lawyer and Civil Rights activist, one of the founders of the National Women's Political Caucus and co-founder of the National Black Feminist Organization, and LGBT advocate.
- '70s Hair: She wears her hair in different variants of afro.
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: She is a very tough and no-nonsense, often confrontational, radical lawyer who isn't popular with Phyllis's crowd but she is very compassionate about defending people and their rights, has progressive views of the LGBT community for the era, she's a friendly confidant to Shirley, very close with Gloria and the other feminists (even apparently the Republican Jill from their physical closeness while grudgingly listening to Rosemary's anti-abortion speech), and is very friendly to Alice even after viewing her anti-ERA button but still makes a point of reminding the conservative Alice that Woody Guthrie was a Socialist and that it doesn't make him any less patriotic.
- Crusading Lawyer: True to her career
in Real Life, she was well known for taking even the most controversial cases to help marginalized communities and people in the United States. She carries this outside of her profession, where she encouraged solidarity with the marginalized. - Deadpan Snarker: In Real Life, as in the show, she is well known for her memorable quotes like the real life "The purpose of ass-kicking is not that your ass gets kicked at the right time or for the right reason, it's to keep your ass sensitive" and within the show:Lesbians are welcome, horizontal hostility is not.
- Handicapped Badass: She doesn't have a visually obvious disability but she possesses a fused spine and is missing some of her intestines but she is fiercely outspoken and passionate about human rights and isn't afraid of a confrontation. She even said in Real Life:Flo Kennedy: I'm just a loud-mouthed middle-aged colored lady with a fused spine and three feet of intestines missing and a lot of people think I'm crazy. Maybe you do too, but I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me.
- Hero of Another Story: Her life could be a film in of itself. She was a radically progressive lawyer who defended the prisoners at Attica, Valerie Solanas, formulated the protests at Miss America 1968 and at Harvard in 1973 where she and several women spilled cups of urine on the steps to protest the lack of restrooms for women, acted in three movies (one of which starred Morgan Freeman), and wrote or contributed to many books.
- Lipstick Lesbian: A stylish and feminine (although idiosyncratic for her generation) woman who in Real Life was a proud and out lesbian.
- My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: She takes the time to remind Alice that just because someone is left-leaning, doesn't make them anymore patriotic; indeed while Alice's crowd might view her as anti-American, Flo is motivated by the desire to see her country become more fair and just for people from all different walks of life.
- Self-Deprecation: She has easily some of the most humorous lines in the series (aside from Betty Friedan), is very witty and fast with the snappy liners. She once approaches Gloria about Andy Warhol snubbing her at a party. Her response when Gloria points out it's understandable because Flo defended his would-be assassin Valerie Solanas:Flo: Not that well! The girl got three years.
Margaret Sloan-Hunter
Margaret Sloan-Hunter
Played By: Bria Henderson
An editor at Ms. magazine, poet, co-founder of the National Black Feminist Organization, a Civil Rights Activist and LGBT activist and single mother.
- '70s Hair: Wears her hair in an afro.
- Lipstick Lesbian: She is a open lesbian and dresses in feminine, bohemian looks of the 1970s like long dresses and skirts with peasant blouses.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: She leaves the East Coast and Ms. after dealing with a mostly-white Innocently Insensitive environment that fails to write and understand the experiences of black women.
- Token Minority: She is one of the few editors of color at the mostly white Ms., which motivates her to co-found the NBFO and move to Oakland after she sees most of her white colleagues could barely understand her point of view and experiences.
Audrey Rowe Colom
Audrey Rowe Colom
Played By: Melissa Joyner
A Black Republican Feminist, chairwoman of the National Women's Political Caucus, and a speaker at the convention in Houston.
- '70s Hair: She wears an afro for most of the series, while her daughter wears a thicker and longer version.
- Black Republican: As of the events of "Betty" she is a rising star in the Republican Party but still works with Democrats and Progressives on women's issues, even being a co-founder of the Black Women's Political Caucus with Flo Kennedy, Shirley Chisholm, and Margaret Sloan-Hunter. She jokes about being a disappointment to her parents due to her political affiliation.
- Mama Bear: Shows shades of this in "Houston" when the anti-ERA Alice and Pamela stay in their hotel room, she is polite but quick to cut her young daughter off when the girl offers to switch buttons with Alice and Pamela and gives Alice a warning look.
- Properly Paranoid: Not given as much of a reason like other Black feminists on the show but she clearly doesn't trust Alice and Pamela (given that the anti-ERA side is made up of privileged white women who can often be racist and the counter-movement won support from White Supremacist groups, it's no wonder). Alice laughing at Carmen's joke about length comparisons wins Audrey over somewhat.
- Silk Hiding Steel: She is a very polite woman when she welcomes the anti-ERA Pamela and Alice into the hotel room with her young daughter but it's clear that she doesn't fully trust them.
- Worthy Opponent: She is a Republican who admires the Democrat Shirley Chisholm and generally works across the political aisle to improve women's status. This gets her (along with Jill) a position in Carter's National Advisory Commission for Women along with Bella, Gloria, Carmen, and Jean.
Carmen Delgado Votaw
Carmen Delgado Votaw
Played By: Andrea Navedo
Co-Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Women under the Carter Administration, a Civil Rights activist, and a Puerto Rican feminist.
- '70s Hair: She has a sculpted, wavy pageboy.
- Deadpan Snarker: She has a deadpan sense of humor that she dispenses during work, regarding the comparision of lengths of resolutions for Latina women compared to Black women (which is longer), after Gloria gives her the go-ahead to add more, Carmen replies with a deadpan joke that even gets the more conservative Alice laughing.Carmen: Well I'm not above comparing length, men do it too.
- Last Episode, New Character: She is introduced to the series in the second-to-last episode "Houston" and shows up again in "Reagan".
- Token Minority: She is the only Latina character in the series.
Jean O'Leary
Jean O'Leary
Played By: Anna Douglas
Founder of the Lesbian Feminist Organization, co-director of the National Gay Task Force, former Nun, and Midge's partner.
- Boyish Short Hair: Wears her hair in playfully messy short pixie styles.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Is comfortable in dresses and skirts, in a subdued manner.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She gives one to Bella when the latter considers leaving LGBT women out of the ERA resolutions to appease more conservative feminists (like Betty Friedan) or the right-wingers, telling her that she sometimes doesn't feel safe to hold her partner Midge's hand in public without risking their safety.
Midge Constanza
Midge Constanza
Played By: Annie Parisse
One of Bella Abzug's staffers, an advisor to President Jimmy Carter on behalf of the LGBT community, and a partner to Jean O'Leary.
- Boyish S Hort Hair: Has a short, helmet like hairstyle.
- Butch Lesbian: Played with, she prefers to dress in a masculine manner with vests and pants and short hair. However the professional settings of the 1970s haven't advanced enough to admit proudly masculine women to dress in their preferred styles, so Midge coifs her hair and wears a frilly dress to a state dinner.
- Historical Beauty Update: Even with the short hair and costumes, Annie Parisse is more prettied up than the real woman.
